OBJECTIVES

Offering many formal exercises, (forms) or techniques is not necessarily an indicator of quality. Quantity is no substitute for quality or understanding. Here at the HGKFCTCCA we are content to work on the core forms of Hung Gar Kuen and Original Yang Tai Chi Chuan as these are already much much more than we could ever truly understand in one lifetime.
The goal of studying martial arts for the vast majority of students is not to crumble bricks under a vibrating palm, to open a coconut with the bare hands or shatter an opponent’s organs or bones with a single strike. Nor is it to have to learn a numberless quantity of theories, forms, techniques and applications: simplicity and effectiveness count much more than quantity. If a student could succeed in learning, understanding and regularly practicing just one Hung Gar Kung Fu form or the Yang Tai Chi Chuan sequence well, he or she would need to learn nothing more for practical self defense purposes.
Beyond self defense, most students have three major goals when they come to practice traditional Chinese martial arts. The first is a way to nourish and develop themselves and so create an internal environment that is relatively free from fear and intimidation from the outside. This self assurance as well as the good mental and physical health which are achieved from regular practice, give ample opportunities to students to develop and fulfill their lives to an extent rarely experienced with other more common athletic endeavor. The second objective is to do something that is out of the ordinary, that is to say, interesting. They are looking for something other than just running, swimming laps, lifting weights or doing simple and repetitive aerobic gymnastics. Finally, for the most part martial arts students are looking for something that is worthwhile and at the same time fun.
Traditional Chinese martial arts training is fun because it’s interesting and challenging; when undertaken with a teacher who understands the meaning of the work the practitioner’s immediate responsibility for the activities is reduced to a minimum. Therefore practicing becomes purely recreational, while at the same time the health and well being of the student is benefited and self defense at many levels is learned. Having fun requires an activity that clears the mind of all thoughts and concerns in a clean, secure, healthy and non-competitive environment. Fancy whirlpool baths, modern complex exercise equipment, chrome, mirrors, parquet, colored belts, regional competitions, trophies, certificates and awards do not hurt the practice. Often, however these are just added ornamentation meant to replace true substance: they do nothing to make martial arts training more fulfilling, more enjoyable or more effective or to aid the practitioner in fathoming the true immensity of the art.
The most important piece of equipment one uses for development in the martial art is one’s self: one’s body, mind and spirit together. Good methods, proper instruction and then the time and place to practice regularly with others so as to develop good discipline and technique are all that is required. A quality martial arts program that does not promote competitive or aggressive behavior helps to form secure, healthy, content and integral human beings who are foundations of their community.

BACK